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Russia as Empire: Past and Present
Covering more than one thousand years of tumultuous history, Russia as Empire shows how the medieval empire of Kyivan Rus’ metamorphosed into today’s Russian Federation. Kees Boterbloem vividly and lucidly describes Russia’s various incarnations and considers how the concept of empire evolved from tsarist Russia to the Soviet Union, and how and why it survives today. He discusses the ideological architects of these empires and the ideas of their political leaders—the tsars, Lenin, Stalin, Boris Yeltsin, and Vladimir Putin. Russia as Empire considers the role of the various empires’ inhabitants, from nobility to clergy and communist party members, revealing how and why they adhered to, or believed in, their country’s imperial mission. What emerges is a highly original overview that illuminates the continuities and discontinuities in Russian history.
256 pages, Hardcover
Published December 23, 2020
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September 20, 2026
The Russian Empire was never a persistent, homogeneous political entity. Its history could be best understood in terms of clear-cut periods, with Russia being geographically, politically, and ideologically a different kind of state in each of them: Kievan Rus’, the Russian Empire, the USSR, the Russian Federation.
Formally, Russia was dubbed an empire only during the reign of Peter the Great (1672–1725), but, I’d argue that the foundation for the Russian Empire was laid almost two centuries prior to Peter’s reign, under Ivan the Great’s scepter (1462–1505), who acquired his title by centralizing Muscovy’s power through the annexation of other principalities, by marrying the Byzantine princess Sophia Palaiologina—which strengthened Muscovy’s claim to the Byzantine imperial legacy and, by extension, to the legacy of Rome—and by standing up to the Tatars, further fostering Muscovy’s independence.
Boterbloem wrote “Russia as Empire” in 2020, prior to the escalation of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, so it offers a valuable speculative perspective on Russian imperial tendencies before the events of 2022, which, after five years of a stalemated war, undermine the myopic, defense-motivated narrative of Russian expansionism.
Formally, Russia was dubbed an empire only during the reign of Peter the Great (1672–1725), but, I’d argue that the foundation for the Russian Empire was laid almost two centuries prior to Peter’s reign, under Ivan the Great’s scepter (1462–1505), who acquired his title by centralizing Muscovy’s power through the annexation of other principalities, by marrying the Byzantine princess Sophia Palaiologina—which strengthened Muscovy’s claim to the Byzantine imperial legacy and, by extension, to the legacy of Rome—and by standing up to the Tatars, further fostering Muscovy’s independence.
Boterbloem wrote “Russia as Empire” in 2020, prior to the escalation of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, so it offers a valuable speculative perspective on Russian imperial tendencies before the events of 2022, which, after five years of a stalemated war, undermine the myopic, defense-motivated narrative of Russian expansionism.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review